I’m sitting here enjoying a nice cuppa English Breakfast tea. I put the sugar and milk in first. Why? Because I know how much of each I like, and because adding the tea mixes it. Why not?
I don’t strain my tea. The leaves will naturally sink to the bottom of my cup. My upper lip is perfectly able to exclude the entry of a few stray leaves as I drink the last few precious drops of elixir. Why bother dirtying a strainer? (Of course, I would provide a strainer if I were making tea for someone else.)
So… you aren’t steeping your tea with milk in it? I actually had this discussion on another message board where people actually preferred to add the hot water and tea bag to the milk and let it steep that way! Heathens!
I, more often than not, have tea in tea bags. But I steep it in a tea pot and add the tea to my milk and sugar in my mug. Easier to judge, and it mixes so nicely without the help of a spoon. When I want to go all out I buy some loose tea leaves and I have one of those tea balls… works great!
My mother, a tea maven of bygone eras, serves tea steeped in the pot. She does nothing to the tea, firmly believing that if the blend is well done, to sugar or milk it is to disrespect the blend. And poorly done, nothing will mask the horror.
Dad sugars his cup, pours the tea over, and lets it do its own stirring. However, I have watched him: He always pours his coffee before adding milk and sugar.
Me, I take my tea and coffee directly from the sugar bowl. Stirring is requred, as there is always more to be dissolved than the simple action of pouring can accomplish.
Loose tea is on hand for when I am serving my mother. She provides it aforethought, so as not to be afflicted with what I might consider serving her. Tea bags for me, because I can’t get through a whole pot of tea by myself. Tried it and failed. Stone cold tea - ugh.
The only time, however, I would ever consider steeping the tea in the milk is when making Chai tea, and that to my ex-bf’s recipe. There’s a whole lot more than just black tea in that pot on the stove. Haven’t done that in a while - I wonder if I remember the recipe?
No. Tea goes in the pot, milk and sugar go in the mug. Although I know that many people steep the tea in the milk and sugar, I’ve never made it that way.
Well I’ll try that when I get a pot again… unfortunately I haven’t had tea mde ‘properly’ in awhile… so I live with just orange pekoe made in my coffee pot (hardly ever make coffee though) I need to get a tea service.
I remember many years ago being able to get the BEST cup of tea at the tea stand in Waterloo Station. It was made by pouring boiling water over a few shovels of loose tea leaves in a watering-can-size, stainless steel teapot. The slattern behind the counter would have china mugs, each with half and inch of milk in them, lined up on the counter. When the tea had steeped, she lifted the can (which had handles back and front) and sloshed the liquid into the waiting mugs. Tea without milk wasn’t an option. On the counter was a big bowl of sugar with a dirty spoon in it for anybody inclined to sweeten their tea. Most people used the common tea spoon to stir with, so the spoon looked more like a granulated club. The tea was piping hot and strong as an ox. A cup cost threepence (old money) and it was delicious.
For black tea, I like honey and milk/cream/powdered milk. Sometimes honey and lemon juice (squeezed). No order for things, but sometimes it seems better with the additives put into the cup before the hot water. Recently I realized that tea bags can go into the cup of hot water and placed in the microwave because there is no metal or staple.
Occasionally use the good loose tea in a tea ball placed into hot water.
I make my tea by the potfull, always loose-leaf at home, but bags at work since using a strainer at a desk is just too messy. I have some lovely strainers at home, sugar tongs, etc. I like tea tools; I think they’re fun to use, and they give the whole tea-drinking experience a nice, old-fashioned ceremonial feel that sloshing a soggy teabag around a styrofoam cup just doesn’t do.
No milk for me, please. Sugar, when I use it, in cubes; one lump.
I’ve only ever had one tea that this was true of–it was a first flush darjeeling that was absolutely heavenly. I bought some as a gift for the friend who was feeding my cat while I was on vacation, but it seemed too self-indulgent to spend that much on a cup of tea for myself. I’ve learned better since, but I never ran across that tea again.
What you need is a thermos. It’s not the perfect solution, because it does cool down pretty noticeably by the next morning, but it’s a distinct improvement over cold tea, or even worse, microwaved tea.
I use teabags because they’re cheaper and easier, but I do sometimes get loose tea just because, and then I strain it. Milk in after the tea, no sugar.
In Vancouver, there is a purveyor of high-quality teas and coffees which my parents frequent: Murchies. They do much of their own roasting and blending, and this is why Mother Dearest gets to be so snooty about her tea.
I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before, but I found my solution to the pot-o-tea question. I know you purists will shudder, but I send my filtered water through my coffee maker, with the leaves / tea bag. Presto - tea that stays hot long enough to finish.
To keep a pot of tea at a nice drinking temperature for as long as you’d like use a tea warmer. They’re lovely and they work with ceramic, porcelain, or cast iron teapots but I’m not sure they’d be safe for an Yixing pot. I just got one recently and have already used it many times.
I prefer to brew tea in a pot usually, but not loose-I’m too lazy to fish all the leaves out and it gets to be too strong if I let it sit. I usually use a t-sac, very handy and easier to use than a tea ball. Milk and sugar go in after the cup is poured. How much of each depends on which tea I’m drinking at the time.
When I make tea by the cup I sometimes use a ceramic mug with a perforated infuser insert. For the hot water I always use my Zojirushi dispenser pot. It keeps 4 liters of water at one of three different temperatures all day long and it has a timer so the water is ready when I get home.
I really like tea.
Straining the tea leaves is only necessary if you brew more tea than will be immediately consumed. The brewing process releases chemicals in the tea leaves - fortunately for us, the flavourful ones come out first, but tannin and other stuff that isn’t so pleasant will leach out of the leaves if brewing is permitted to continue. This is why tea becomes very bitter if left in the cup/pot. The magic number is about four minutes (assuming loose tea, and boiling water). Brew for four minutes, and then either serve, or transfer to a carafe or other container, straining to remove the leaves. The remaining tea will taste better, longer.
Good greif. Koala Tea. I had to say that in an american accent to get the joke.
Koalas droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven. You may have heard.
Anyway, tea…
Has to be brewed in a pot (without milk in the pot).
I add the milk last, so I can effectively guage how much milk to add - I stop pouring when the colour is right. If you pour the milk first it is more difficult to judge.
I am a tea snob. I have a whole separate tea set for work even.
I brew my tea loose in the pot, pour the milk into the cup first, and then strain the tea as I pour the tea into the cup. I don’t use sugar, although sometimes I like honey in my mint tea.
